The present invention relates more particularly to a fuel, for example diesel fuel, injector connector intended to connector the injector to the low-pressure injector backleak hydraulic circuit arranged in a motor vehicle and intended to collect the fuel coming from the injector and store it in the fuel tank.
The hydraulic backleak circuit comprises both pipe elements and injector connectors. The circuit is connected to all the injectors of the injection system and extends in a line along the engine cylinders. It comprises an L-shaped first connector for the injector situated at one end of the engine block and then T-shaped connectors for the subsequent injectors, short pipe elements joining the connectors together. Thus, an in-line four-cylinder engine comprises one L-shaped connector, three T-shaped connectors and three short pipe elements. A final pipe element longer than the others connects the final T-shaped connector to the fuel tank.
Evolutions in fuel injection systems and reduction in fuel consumption in the vehicle have led to increased injection pressures which may reach 2500 bar and temperatures as high as 150° C. with spikes at 160-170° C. The backleak hydraulic circuits need to be able to withstand these temperatures and to withstand a positive pressure of the order of 6 bar, and this entails expensive materials for the pipe elements. In addition, the connectors comprise an L-shaped or T-shaped coupling element locked in a tubular cage by a locking cap. The T-shaped coupling elements comprise arms which make angles with one another. The T-shaped connectors differ from one another because the angles between the arms may differ on the one same hydraulic circuit in order to make it easier to install on the engine. The three pieces of the T-shaped or L-shaped connector are made of molded plastic. The L-shaped coupling elements require a different mold to the T-shaped coupling elements. In addition, the production flexibility imposed by innumerable alternative forms of engine build (form, number of cylinders) is expensive and technically challenging.
It is an object of the present invention to address these disadvantages by proposing a solution that is economical and flexible in the production of the T-shaped and L-shaped connectors.